Forcing Aadhar Card on the masses is violation of Supreme Court order

When Aadhaar was first introduced by the UPA-II regime amidst much hype and fanfare, there was another section in the populace that did not look too amused by the move. Their objection was that the Aadhar scheme has all those necessary ingredients that could easily push the common law abiding citizen to grave danger – primarily because, to get the Aadhar card, one must first disclose his all personal details to the government which then holds on to it permanently.

This essentially means that by virtue of Aadhar, the central government was in a position to hold virtually anybody in ransom if and when it had to. Add to that the threats emanating from the mischievous elements in the society including the mafia who, perhaps with a little effort, could always lay their hands on the income tax returns of individuals.

All personal details of the individuals applying for the Aadhar Card are also available to private companies involved in the UID scheme, include some foreign companies.

Keeping in view of all the looming threats, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court of India against the government move to make Aadhar a mandatory choice to take advantage of various government schemes and subsidies. It was argued that Aadhar, in essence, was a violation of the fundamental rights of the citizens in addition to being a threat to sovereignty of the nation. The petition was admitted by the apex court and the matter, as of now, is subjudice.

The apex court also made it clear in an interim order that it was not mandatory to be in possession of the Aadhar card to avail government subsidies. Despite that, commoners are still being asked to furnish their Aadhar details in order to get subsidies on LPG cylinder.

Despite its validity being a subjudice matter, the government has already spent INR 8000 crore for pushing the Aadhar card to the masses – that too without the sanction of the Parliament.